The Last Hetalian Pirate
by L.Hawk
Summary: AU With no other choice,Arthur turns to piracy along the river,targeting those he holds responsible for his financial ruin,SOVIET Corp.They are a powerful company,but they have a lot of enemies, and Arthur's crew soon grows,helped along by such people.
1. Chapter 1

They were sleeping in an alleyway. Arthur went from shop to shop looking for work, but none of them were hiring. Alfred had even tried asking around, young he was. One shop owner had paid him five dollars to smash boxes, since the regular employee was out sick that day. But the man was clear that was a one-time thing and five dollars didn't go very far.

They ended up sleeping behind the processing center down by the dock. Berwald had taken everything they owned, and there brother on top of that. It was then that they had met Francis, who had made them an offer they couldn't refuse.

His offer was a barge to sail along the river. Arthur was desperate enough to resort to piracy, and the barge was God sent. The only problem; Berwald had stripped him of everything of value that he might trade Francis for the barge.

The only thing he had left was his life, which he would be willing to give up for his children, but Francis didn't want his life. Francis wanted Matthew' s life, or at least three weeks worth of it, as collateral.

Arthur was, in effect, face with every parent's worst nightmare. If he refused, Alfred and Matthew would suffer. If he agreed, Matthew would suffer, but Alfred wouldn't and Matthew would be better off long-term. Still what kind of parent would give up their own child, even if it was only temporarily. Well, he had already done it once.

He looked France in the eyes, "do you promise not to hurt him?" He couldn't believe he was actually considering this. This was what Berwald and Soviet Corps had reduced him to.

Francis grinned, "Mais oui, of course."

Matthew spoke up quietly, "I'll go."

Arthur turned to him, "are you sure?"

Alfred, who had been uncharacteristically quiet, understating the gravity of the situation, stepped forward, "no." Arthur opened his mouth tell the boy not be daft when Alfred continued, "I'm the older brother. If you want one, of us take me."

Francis thought for a minute and Arthur held his breath. "Non," he finally said, "your frère, or the deal is off."

Matthew put his hand on Alfred shoulder, "Al, I'll be fine. Don't worry about me, eh."

Alfred turned squeezed his brother tightly. Arthur bent down on one knee and waited. Alfred let go, and he put his hand on Matthew's shoulder and asked, "Are you sure about this Matthew?"

Matthew nodded. Arthur kissed his forehead, and murmured "I love you poppet, and we will come back for you, I promise."

He Francis cleared his throat, "There is no more time for goodbye maintinanet. Come along Mathieu. We will show them to the boat." He held out his hand and Matthew took it. Arthur rose and grabbed Alfred's hand, squeezing it a little tighter than necessary, as if afraid of losing his one remaining son, before setting off after Francis.

Francis led them along the dock, past all the huge industrial boats to the smaller crafts. Docked apart from the other boats, riding high in the water, was the boat Francis was offering them. Arthur blinked. The boat had no motor, merely a sail.

He had learned to sail back in England, and the type of boat sitting before him would ideally have a crew of three, and he had only himself and Alfred, who didn't know how to sail.

Still there was nothing left for him here, and no money left for train fare. The only thing he could do was sail off on the ship. Arthur and Francis quickly negotiated a price, to be paid in 3 weeks, when Matthew would be given back. He turned to glared Francis, "we will be back in three weeks for Matthew."

Francis chuckled, "I would have it no other way." He smirked as he threw an arm around Matthew's shoulders. "Until then, he's mine."

A/N-This is something I've been working on for a while. It's loosely based on the Arrogant Worms' song The Last Saskatchewan Pirate, which if you haven't listened to, I suggest you do. I already have several chapters typed, but they skip around a lot, so I might just publish them in a weird order, or I might write the chapters that go in between, which would take longer, but make more sense. Let me know in a review what you think. Also I promise I will update my other stories soon, it's just that the heat is sapping my will to write. I am going on a major self-discipline kick though, and I have new chapters for most of them started, so expect updates soon. Note that I wouldn't be publishing this so soon if I hadn't promised a friend, who I met at a writers workshop, that I would post. Just a little shout out. C'est tout. 


	2. Chapter 2

Before, Arthur would have dismissed such theories as the work of radical propagandists, but now he believed them whole heartedly. The government must have be lying when they said that the findings that stated that a SOVIET Corp. industrial plant had caused the freak snowstorms were wrong. Not that it mattered either way, he thought bitterly. Freak snowstorms were freak snowstorms and he was a farmer. Or had been a farmer, until Berwald took away his farm.

He didn't blame Berwald. After all, Berwald had been extremely lenient with him already, lending him the money without collateral, and accepting smaller payments in the winter. He had even let Arthur miss a few payments, before being forced into calling in the debt. He was, after all a banker, and it was his job to collect the money, one way or another. Arthur could be thrown in prison for not paying his debt.

Arthur had heard that Berwald also had trouble with SOVIET Corp., but Berwald was much better at keeping them at bay, probably because his "wife" hadn't gotten sick, and he hadn't been forced to pay SOVIET Corp. for a treatment that they hadn't even invented, just patented, and that they refused to let insurance cover, because it was "Experimental", never mind that it had been the standard treatment for years.

Arthur didn't blame Berwald for anything. Even taking Peter was understandable, even if it had been excruciatingly painful. His "wife" had wanted a child badly, and as Berwald pointed out, he couldn't fudge the numbers if Arthur didn't hand over something, his land, his house and everything on it not being enough to cover his debt. It was surely better than him ending up in prison, and leaving all three of his sons to the mercy of the state.

Arthur vowed that as soon as he could create any sort of semi-stable financial situation, he would go to Berwald and demand that he give Peter back. He also vowed that he would get some sort of revenge on SOVIET Corp. He wasn't sure how he was going to do either of those things, but he kept telling himself that he would. It was all that he could do, to stay strong for Alfred and Matthew.

A/N-Yeah, so this is just back story. Arthur's wife in an OC Northern Ireland, invented by Midi-Chan-of-the-Muffins, and Berwald's "wife" is Tino, put in quotes because he's another man and doesn't like to be addressed that way. They are legally married. Yeah, that's it.


	3. Chapter 3

Alfred first brought up the possibility of getting Matthew back one clear evening when they were sitting up on the deck after dinner, looking at the stars. They had just completed a successful raid, and the wind was blowing favorably to the port they were headed to, so Arthur didn't have to push. It was one of their rare moments of rest.

Alfred said suddenly, "When is Mattie coming back?"

Arthur blinked for a minute, "What… Oh, soon." He felt amazingly guilty, having forgotten his own son. He began counting the days he had been sailing for on his fingers, starting the day after the day they'd left and trying to remember.

Alfred began to ask, "What..."

"Shut it! I'm trying to think." Arthur snapped. Alfred had learned that piracy brought out a stricter side of his father that he didn't want to mess with. He remained silent until Arthur muttered, "That's it. 14 days." He turned Alfred and said, "Sorry for snapping at you lad."

Alfred climbed into his father's lap. He was getting a little big, and Arthur exhaled sharply. Alfred turned to his father and looked at him with wide eyes. Arthur smile and Alfred lay his head on his father shoulder, "It's okay. What we're you thinking about?"

Arthur wrapped his arms around Alfred, "I was just thinking about how long it'll be until we see your brother again."

Alfred said almost petulantly, "You said we'd see him soon."

Arthur sighed, "We'll be seeing him the next time we're in Freeport, a week from now."

Alfred frowned, " Shouldn't we be going the other way then?"

Arthur smiled slightly; Alfred was getting better with the navigation of the River. He sighed, "We can't get Matthew back until one week from now, whether we reach Freeport before that or not."

Alfred frowned, "Is that part of the deal he made with the man who gave us the boat?"

Arthur murmured, "Mm-hm"

Alfred's voice cracked slightly, as he nuzzled his head into Arthur's neck, "I miss Mattie. Him and Peter."

Arthur's gut churned. He knew he didn't have a choice, but he felt like he could've done something; Killed Berwald right then and there maybe, despite not having anything against the man, but he didn't. He couldn't. He felt like a failure of a parent. He still had Alfred though, and soon he would have Matthew. He promised himself that he would finally get Peter back, come hell or high water, even if he had to kidnap him.

He sighed and held Alfred tight, "I know love." They stayed like that for some time, the last remnants of a family that would have would one day be pieced back together. Starting with Matthew in one week.

A/N-This is just a little piece of fluff I wrote a while ago. I haven't published it because I've been working on the chapter where Antonio come in, even though I should be working on my other stories. Although I have also been working on the next chapter of Life of a Servant, so that should be out soon. And that's it.


End file.
